If you value logic, analysis and intellect, your instincts were correct, you belong in the VKF. If you like to delve into the deepest nooks and crannies of game mechanics, find hidden nuggets of knowledge about STO and share them with your Fleet-mates, you belong in the VKF. If you want to team with friends who will not only watch your back, but let you show off your best skills and tactics while trouncing the enemy with dispatch, you belong in the VKF.

I am Phoenix_Lord, High Executive Officer (in-game 1st of Many@Phoenix_Lord) of the Vulcan Kolinahr Fleet. I would like to welcome you to the VKF and invite you to consider joining our Fleet. We are worldwide, light RP, and enjoy teaming with each other along with other allied fleets in space and away teams.

We have a Fleet Bank with items that can upgrade your armament, shields, or other items. We devote time to making sure our Fleet Forum has good information and Intel on game mechanics, resource locations, mission tips and other good stuff to help our members progress in their career field and ranking in STO. We offer opportunities for leadership positions in both fleets for members interested in such. And we offer camaraderie and kinship as we forge through 2409 in STO.

If you wish to join the VKF, you simply need to post your intent in the Recruiting Center threads as soon as you can. By posting in the Recruiting Center, you will be applying for a commission in the VKF and when we accept your application and grant your commission, we will change your username to add a prefix [VKF], so the next time you log in (after applying), you should log in with the username [VKF]<your name here> (we will not change your password, and can?t view it anyway). Once you are a member of our Fleet, you will have access to much more of our Fleet forums.

Also, if you can include in your application your in-game character@handle so we can invite you to the Fleet inside of STO, that would help us get you integrated into the Fleet quickly. I am available on the forum to assist you with orienting you to the Fleet, and will be contacting you within the Fleet Forum.

If you are a diplomat from another Fleet and wish diplomatic status at the VKF, please visit the forum and post in the Foreign Relations sub-forum, so our Fleet Ambassador can grant you the appropriate access and status.

Feel free to email me directly, pm, or post in our forums if you need any additional information. I hope you will consider the VKF for your Fleet!

If you are intellectual, analytical, logical, and quite assertive, the VKF is the Fleet for you. We team to accomplish missions beyond our individual capabilities. We share information to help our members new to the game advanced quickly. We share weapons, shields, and other technology that gives you an advantage over your enemies and allows you to succeed in missions with less time spent grinding. We share information so you know what to do, where to do, and when to do. We work together to enrich each of our members' in-game experience - give you more enjoyment, more loot, more satisfaction, and more exhilaration in everything you do in STO.

If you've read the reviews of STO, you know that it is a work in progress. VKF can help you bridge the gap between 'just another MMO' and a fun and engaging experience that will have you at the edge of your seat, raring to go for another mission, and feeling the surge of adrenaline as you work with your Fleet-mates to succeed in missions beyond your current grade.

Join the VKF and experience STO as both Cryptic and we believe it to be - the most awesome MMORPG ever!

We see lots of posts by players who are looking for an active fleet. I'm guessing that what they are looking for could be one or more of the following:

people online when they are, who they can chat with in-game.

people online when they are, and there's a Ventrilo or TeamSpeak server so they can voice chat with them.

people online when they are, and available to team up for missions or PvP.

Just about all fleets will affirm that they are active, but they may be responding to only one or two of the above indicators, or with another rationale entirely. For example, they could be active on their forum (i.e., lots of recent posts and discussion going on), or they have a dedicated group into one or more specific activities (such as role-play).

Fleets work hard to maintain a good activity level. Some fleets try to maximize their in-game activity by focusing on one playtime range (or they may focus on one time zone, and you can assume that the evening hours in that time zone are the most popular playtime range).

Some fleets go for maximum numbers of members, so that there's a better chance there will be a good number of members online at the same time.

Some fleets focus on making sure there are a few dedicated and hardcore players online all the time, so there's always someone to talk to (think duty officer).

And some fleets encumber their members with check-in and/or participation requirements to help make sure there's always someone to talk to or team.

Of course, this is all quantitative, not qualitative. Here at the VKF, we focus on qualitative. We're not interested in being the largest fleet, or having the most players lined up for a photo shoot, or even fielding a ton of members for joint fleet actions, We are interested in attracting other gamers who share our core values, and who want to have friends like us. We may fly solo sometimes, we may fly together. We may chat with each other, we may remain silent. We do what each of us wants to at any point in time, and don't enforce specific activity on each other.

The VKF is a group of gamers who play mostly STO, who value logic and intellect in gameplay, and who treasure both diversity and the freedom to do what we want, when we want. There are enough of us so that there's usually someone to chat with, at least some parts of every day. There's often someone to team with, at least some parts of every day. And we have a TeamSpeak server for any whom wish to use it - when they want to. And we engage in a little light role-play now and then - when the mood strikes us.

We have an active forum at The Vulcan Kolinahr Fleet where we share information and game tips, chat on (we have a live chat box) about whatever we want, and in general, spend time together as friends. We often find ourselves chatting and posting on the forum, and also chatting and playing in STO at the same time. I find most days there are 3-5 people on during the daytime and evening hours (US), and often late into the night and early in the morning there's often one or two around.

So yes, I call that active, but it's likely not nearly as active as some of the fine, larger Fleets in STO. I'm not knocking them either; there are some great fleets out there! But we feel the VKF has found its niche, and we seem to continue to attract people who share our values, and our friendship pool is continuing to grow. We've been around since before Launch Day, and will be around...well perhaps forever is pushing it, but I can count at least a handful of members who will remain with us for as long as they can click a mouse button (myself included).

Before you make a choice for joining a Fleet, please take my advice and research your choices carefully. Make sure the fleet you join is the one you'll be happy with. Imo, a bad decision up-front can sour you on some of the best aspects of STO for a long time to come. You might as well take enough time to make an informed choice that fits you. If it happens to be the VKF, that's great! If it's another Fleet, then I'm sure we'll see you in the quadrant from time to time, we do quite a bit of joint fleet activity, and have alliances with lots of other Fleets in STO.

Regardless of where you go in STO, know that the VKF members will act honorably in battle (thanks to learning from the Klingons), will use our logic and intellect to control the power of emotion (thanks to learning from Earthlings), and will answer all Federation or Klingon hails & distress calls.

Here is a bit about the VKF, why we exist, what our purpose is, and the ideals we hold dear. This is here to help you decide if the VKF is the right Fleet for you. We believe that the choice of a Fleet is very important, and shouldn't be taken lightly. We've all known gamers who flit from Fleet to Fleet (or guild to guild) looking for the right fit. We hope to help you avoid this pattern. While we are currently focused on Star Trek Online, we have members with interests in other games, and will likely expand our guild/Fleet activities into them, if/as our membership wishes.

So why do we call ourselves the Vulcan Kolinahr Fleet? Well, first of all, the VKF is logic-based - we value and prize the use of logic in all our dealings, both in-game and in our lives. Most of us have followed the Star Trek TV series and movies for many years (some of us for many decades!), and we were fascinated by the character of Spock and the race of Vulcans. That's not to say that the VKF is only for Vulcan gamers in STO - we have players of all races - even Borg! The point is that logic and analysis is a common characteristic of our membership. Hence the term "Kolinahr" which is the Vulcan discipline to purge all emotion from oneself. Although we've taken a bit of poetic license - in 2409, we have learned that with logic controlling emotion, we can improve our performance in battle - tightly controlled rage can be quite devastating!
This doesn't mean that we don't have fun! We engage in light role-playing, and engage in lots of friendly banter and chat - both in the in-game text chat window, and in our own TeamSpeak 3 server for voice chat. The goal of the VKF is to help each member get the most enjoyment out of playing STO - no small task! So we listen to our members, and try to provide what they want and need. This includes plenty of discussion and information sharing on our forum and in-game, teaming opportunities for us to help each other gain experience in missions and battle, Joint Fleet Operations where we team with other STO Fleets for major actions (such as the Crystalline Catastrophe) that take the coordinated effort of many players, and a well-stocked Fleet Bank with in-game items that our members can use to improve their capabilities - both for their ships and themselves and their Bridge Officers. We have members who like to farm and craft uncommon items, we have members who like to breed Tribbles, and we have members who simply want to occasionally team with others, but often like to fly solo.

We respect Real Life - always. There's no minimum posts in the forum, no required teaming activity in-game, or other participation rules you'll find with other Fleets. If you are out of the game and not available to chat or post on the forum for long stretches, no worries! We won't drop you from the Fleet. We recognize that RL can keep you busy from time to time. So know that when you return to us, we'll still welcome you.

We are logical, therefore there's no place in the VKF for drama. We have had our share of disagreements, but since we exist for the membership in total, the needs of the many takes precedence over any personal agendas. If you like high drama (other than in RP!), then you may want to give us a pass - we keep things cool.

We like to make friends. We have over two dozen alliances with other Fleets in STO, and welcome new relationships always. We even go so far as to establish "Embassies" for our guest Fleet diplomats - sub-forums that are private to them and us and allow us to negotiate alliances, treaties and pacts, to coordinate JFAs, and just to deepen our personal relationships with other gamers. For our membership, we encourage anyone who wants to affiliate themselves with the VKF to join our ranks. We do not discriminate on any basis of race, religion, creed, geographical or temporal location. Our membership is spread across time zones around the Earth, yet we still often get the chance to play together - divergent schedules and time zones don't seem to be a big issue.

The analysis side pushes us to gather Intel and knowledge (some might say wisdom) about STO - the game mechanics, the best builds, how to do our best on missions, etc. We use our forum to share this information with each other, and to build on each other's work for the use of everyone. We've found tons of nuggets of really good info all over the place, on the STO forums, in-game experience, wikis, etc. We mine that info and then organize it on our forum to help you get the info you need without spending tons of time on research. We share much of that knowledge with our allied Fleets as well.

You may notice that our Fleet Emblem on this forum includes the IDIC (that's the symbol inside the gold hand), which is called "k'lalatar prkori k'lalatar". The English is also spelled out on the lower half: "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations". The IDIC is the basis of Vulcan philosophy, and here at the VKF we treasure diversity throughout the universe, in STO, and within the VKF. We have learned that diversity is the key to thriving in all things, and we all gain from the individual characteristics that each of our members bring to the Fleet - this makes us stronger and leverages our skills with those of our Fleet mates to bring about devastating defeat for our enemies and quick victory for our teams. Our Fleet Emblem also includes the laurel wreath for the pursuit of peace, and six stars to represent our command structure. The Vulcan hand sign is of course our wish for all who we meet: Live Long and Prosper. Lastly, the base of the laurel wreath has our Command Chevron - you will see variations of it on all our rank insignia.

And finally, we are not in a race - not with each other, and not with other Fleets in STO. We simply want to enjoy the gameplay to the max. It doesn't matter what in-game rank you hold, we've got members playing lots of different characters on both the Fed and KDF sides, and we're always up for teaming in-game. And on a personal note, teaming with Fleet mates is way better than teaming with a pickup group!

So we encourage you to spend a bit of time researching potential Fleets before you sign up for one. We hope that if you value the characteristics discussed above, you'll realize that logic dictates your affiliation with the VKF - for a long-lasting and enjoyable relationship. Live long and prosper!

With Fleet Starbases now here, you're going to want to join a fleet so that you'll have access to all the items you'll only be able to purchase in the Starbases. The bigger Fleets can offer you a better chance to get all of these things because their shops will be up and running quickly as they soar through the Tiers to get their Starbase up and fully operational. But the possibility exists that they run the risk of having more items to donate then there is a demand for. Which mean that you may not get all that many Fleet Credits you want to purchase things from the Stores in the Starbase.

However, within the VKF, you'll have the chance to donate much more to the Starbase, which also means that you'll have the ability to purchase more once the Starbase Stores are all up. We are working to have something in place so that everyone gets a good crack at Fleet Credit. If you want to get the most out of the Starbases and you're not a part of a Fleet just yet, then you'll want to take a serious, long look at the VKF. We might be small, but we feel that we can actually offer more out of our Starbase then the larger fleets; which is something that you'll literally be able to take to the bank.

We are a military organization, and have decided for ourselves that a matrix-management method works best for us. While no member of the VKF is required to serve in any position of responsibility or leadership, we certainly encourage our members to help out in any way.

Our first matrix is the hierarchical leadership, aka the chain-of-command. Most Fleets in STO are headed by the Fleet Admiral, and we are no different. However, we do have some extra layers:

For overall strategic direction, we depend on the Vulcan High Command. This is headed by our Grand Admiral Keysailor and is made up of selected members of the Fleet who've proven their loyalty and pledged long-term commitment to the VKF. Membership is by invitation only. The Vulcan term we use in-game for the VHC is V'Ket. This body is served by our Speaker for the Vulcan High Command, T'Kota - who provides the voice for the V'Ket.

A subset of the Vulcan High Command is our V'Shar - our "Keepers of the Fleet". This is a permanent and small group of members who are charged with preserving and protecting the VKF - forever.

For day-to-day operational and tactical direction, we depend on the Fleet Admiral and his/her Executive Officer, and the chain of command underneath them:

We have two Wing Commanders, one for Operations and one for Administration.

In Operations, we have the PVP Wing Commander, and the PvE Wing commander, which are supported by Battle Group Commanders (for PvP) and Task Force Commanders (PvE). Under them are the Strike Force Leaders (PvP) and Patrol Team Leaders (PvE).

In Administration, we have the Chief Engineer, the Chief Scientist, and the Chief Tactician, who oversee and organize the in-game career progression for each career field. We also have our Kevet-dutar or Fleet Ambassador with his/her diplomatic corps, our Chief Recruiting Officer, our Chief Supply Officer, and our Chief Personnel Officer, all of who have staff positions to help support each of their missions.

So on one side of the matrix, you may report to a Patrol Team Leader, who reports to a Task Force Commander, who reports to the PvE Wing Commander, who reports to the Fleet Admiral.

On another side, you may report to the Chief Science Officer, who reports to the Administrative Wing Commander, who reports to the Fleet Admiral.

So you would report (i.e., work) through the chain of command depending for the activity that you engage. Dealing with Fleet Bank issues? See the Chief Supply Officer. Interested in a job in VKF management/leadership? See the Chief Personnel Officer. It works pretty well for us.

In the Fleet, we also have military ranks for members to progress (if they choose). While they roughly correlate to standard military ranks, they have no relationship with your in-game character's rank, but are simply a way to allow our Fleet members to progress within the Fleet regardless of whether they take on management/leadership jobs - although doing so is an easy and quick way to rank up in the VKF! These ranks are (from lowest to highest):

Ne-lan (this is the lowest cadet or recruit rank, think of it as similar to the tutorial level of STO)

Ot-lan (this is the basic rank of a VKF member, think of it as similar to the Lieutenant rank)

Tra-lan (this is an advancement rank, similar to Lt. Commander)

Zhel-lan (this is the next level, similar to Commander)

Khart-lan (this is our top rank below admiralty, similar to Captain)

Nik'el-lan (this is our first admiralty rank, similar to Rear Admiral)

Shaltra-lan (this is the next admiralty rank, similar to Vice Admiral)

Halitra-lan (this is the top admiralty rank, similar to Admiral)

We have special designations for certain members that either match or exceed the above ranks. These include the F-rel-barr (or Grand Admiral), our Pid-Trensu (or High Executive Officer), our Speaker for the VHC, and our Ton-Barr (or Fleet Admiral).

In-game, we have the seven ranks that are used for Fleet permissions. They are (from lowest to highest):

Ang'jmizn - Starship Captain (new members)

Kadvin - Commissioned Officer (members who've passed the Ne-lan rank)

Pelq-ari k'puu - VDF Captain, 3rd Rank (members who've accepted their first position of responsibility and/or demonstrated their loyalty to the Fleet, long-term)

Pelq-ari lik'rt - VDF Captain, 2nd Rank (members who've worked in more than one position of responsibility)

V'Ket - VDF Leadership (our top leaders of the Fleet and the Vulcan High Command)

V'Shar - Keepers of the Fleet (our permanent long-term protectors of the Fleet)

These ranks allow us to manage the Fleet permissions for all our members in-game (such as withdrawal permissions from the Fleet Bank).

Of course, any member may communicate with any other member, rank or position notwithstanding. Same for teaming, helping out or helping each other, etc... These ranks and positions are simply a way for each of our Fleet members to find their own niche, participate however they choose to for their own enjoyment.

And finally, we do have an accolade system in place, that awards ribbons for exemplary action or conduct, both in-game and elsewhere. Some of these ribbons are tied to in-game activities, and some are for service to the Fleet. You'll see these accolades displayed on this forum beneath the avatar of the Fleet member (at the left of their posts or on their profile). Our goal is to recognize any and all accomplishments of our members, and celebrate their achievements.